Nymeria Lupin: Even the darkest of times have their end
by Nymerialupin
Summary: Begins during the first wizarding war. Remus Lupin's brother was murdered like many other Order members, little Nymeria was the only survivor. With intelligence and promise of something great, will her past in the end turn genius into madness?


Nymeria Lupin

Barefoot and shivering, the two girls crouched together behind a large tree. The howling wind wiping through the forest masked their heavy breathing and muffled whimpering. 'Papa said run Nymeria! Not hide!' pulling on her sisters hand Amelie glared into the shining grey eyes identical to her own just visible in the pitch black night . Dressed in matching knee length night dresses the girls jumped at the sound of distant shouting, Nymeria grabbed her twin into a tight embrace rooted to the spot.

They stood in this same position for what felt like hours, straining their ears to hear some sign of life in the surrounding trees. All of a sudden a horrible piercing scream broke the silence. Next thing Nymeria knew she was being dragged through the darkness away from the noise, footsteps and deep booming shouts being heard from behind them, getting closer. Stealing a glance behind her, she gasped as four dark figures were running behind them. Through heavy staggered breaths, Nymeria forced out the words 'Faster, Meli!'

A scream escaped Amelie as a flash of green light zoomed inches from her face. Green flashes were lighting up the forest all around them every few seconds. Keeping her eyes fixed on the back of her sisters head she felt a lurch as her foot lodged itself under a tree root and panic ripped through her entire body as she was forced forward onto her front, banging her face hard against the frozen soil. The release of her sisters hand caused Amelie to stop and turn to see where her sister had gone. As she did, Nymeria saw as if in slow motion, a green flash across her sisters grey eyes as she was hit square in the chest. 'Non! Amelie!' she saw the life leave her sister eyes as she fell backwards and with a muffled thud hit the ground. Grief gripped her, pain shooting through her chest as she stared at her other half, the one she had never been without.

A voice inside her head awoke her from her daze, 'Papa said run Nymeria!.' Scrambling to her feet she ran as fast as she could, the dark figures right behind her now. Flashes of light just missing her every few seconds. The rough voices getting louder and angrier the more she avoided the curses aimed for her. Turning to steal a glance at her pursuers she heard two pops just before she ran straight into something warm and solid. Before she had chance to work out what had happened she heard numerous shouts of 'Stupify!' A male and female voice from very close by. Her arms wrapped around what she ran into, she closed her eyes tight and waited for death to take her like it did her twin.

'It's alright sweetie, the bad men can't hurt you now.' A warm friendly voice came from above her, from what she realised wasn't a _what_ after all, but a _he_. A large firm hand rested on her back as she breathed in a deep jagged breath. His smell reminded her of spring, earthy but slightly floral. 'I think that's all of them Gideon,' a female voice from Nymeria's right made her look up for the first time. The woman, from what she could see though the dark had short hair with large eyes set into a face a bit too small for them. She felt Gideon sigh before saying softly 'We must get her back to headquarters Alice,' indicating the tiny shaking figure whose head was nuzzled into his legs 'We need to notify them, someone needs to come and recover the bodies.'

'You go back, I'll find them.' With that Nymeria got a last glimpse of the woman called Alice as she felt Gideon tighten his grip on her and twisted on the spot. A lurching sensation behind her navel told her they were apparating, she had felt it before, her parents' house elf had used it to transport her and her sister from the house to the secret place they had been hiding in. Warmth stung her frozen cheeks as she felt her feet touch solid ground.

'Gideon! What happened?'

'Isnt that one of the Lupin twins?'

'Where are the rest of her family?'

Gideon had question after question fired at him from all directions. Nymeria still had her eyes closed trying to make sense of what had just happened. With Nymeria still clung to his legs Gideon reached over the table close by and pulled over a chair and sat down. With gentle but firm hands he prised the small child's arms from his legs and lifted her onto his lap. Feeling it was safe Nymeria slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the man that had saved her life. Long messy fiery red hair fell down past his shoulders, framing his rugged handsome face. His deep brown eyes stared down at her, concern etched across his forehead.

'Where are the rest of her family?' someone repeated. The man speaking made Nymeria double take, she stared from the speaker to Gideon then back to the speaker. The man was identical to her saviour, apart from he was cleaner and his hair only reached his chin. Placing his hands on either side of Nymerias face, to cover her ears, Gideon said bluntly 'they're dead Fabian.' He spoke low enough so Nymeria was unable to hear what he said but she saw shock echo across his twins face. Silence filled the room. The hands on the side of her face were lowered, an internal conflict was battling inside her mind, trying to rationalise what had happened and what she had seen. 'Are you hurt at all?' the question brought her back to the room, she opened her mouth but no words came out. In the end she just shook her head. 'Whats your name?', taking a deep breath she managed a to say 'Nymeria Lupin' in a voice so small only Gideon heard her. 'Well Nymeria, my name is Gideon, and that is my brother Fabian.' Pointing at the different people in the room he continued to name all the people '…and that there is Frank, his wife was the one with us earlier in the…'

BANG! Everyone jumped as the door was flung open, A tall impressive man with half moon spectacles and a long beard marched into the room, followed by a fierce scared man who clunked as he walked due to his wooden leg.

'Someone explain!' the shorter man covered with scars snarled at the room. Tears welled in Nymerias eyes as Gideon spoke up. 'We received an alarm call from Henry Lupin, saying they are in trouble. Well it was very panicked, as me and Alice were on call tonight we went to check it out. By the time we found them, it was too late.' His voice broke, taking a deep breath he forced himself to continue. 'When we got there we saw Nymeria here' indicating the crying child on his lap 'running from four death eaters, her twins body lay just meters from us.' A sob escaped him. 'It was too late' he repeated. Hot tears fell onto Nymeria's cheek, but they weren't hers.

Speaking at last the tall man looked over his half-moon spectacles at the child with her head buried in Gideon's chest. 'Her uncle must be contacted; her mother's family disowned her when she married Henry and her father's parents are not well enough to take on a five year old child.'

'Albus, you cannot hand her over to a werewolf!' the one legged man spoke up. Shock in his gruff voice. 'I have complete trust in Remus, Alastor. He is a great man and wizard.'

*** a few hours later ***

'She is asleep' Fabian announced as he re-entered the room, he took his seat at the table next to his brother whose head was resting on his folded arms. It was a large room with a high ceiling and grey walls which were once white. A large wide fire place stood at one end of the room in front of which Albus Dumbledore sat at the head of the table. A dozen other people sat round the table, all of who were sullen and sat in silence. Members of the order of the phoenix had been called into headquarters for an emergency meeting. Some of who were still in their night clothes. The walls surrounding them were covered in mismatched shelves containing battered books and rolls of parchment.

Dumbledore broke the suffocating silence. 'He is the only one who can take her. He is her only relative in a stable enough mind to take on the responsibility.' A woman with green eyes and long dark red hair looked up and spoke to the room, not making eye contact with anyone but staring past Dumbledore into the blazing fire. 'Remus is a great man! Why are we even debating this? He is a member of the order just like all of us, he has saved countless lives and yet people won't trust him with his own niece!' A stocky man dressed in ministry of magic robs and a name badge reading 'Edgar Bones' leaned forward, 'Lily, it's not that we do not trust him as a person. But he is a werewolf! Why is he not here now? Because its full moon! He cannot be with her all the time. A child of her age cannot be left on her own for a full night once a month.'

'She won't be on her own! Me, Lily, Sirius and Peter can help when he changes!' a young man in his early twenties who was sat next to Lily stood up and was glaring at the other members. His messy black hair sticking up in different directions. For the first time since Fabian re-entered the room, Gideon lifted his head. 'Let her go with Remus, the poor girl has just lost her parents, baby brother and her…' stealing a glance at his brother 'and her twin! Do not take away her uncle too.' He could feel everyone's eyes upon him, but he did not care, he felt this child's pain. He was determined she would not feel any more if he could help it.

Hours passed, with them still not being able to reach a unanimous decision. Sun light blazed in though the tall windows all along the one wall. A heated argument had broken out between the Prewett twins and Edgar Bones, the volume in the room increasing as each tried to talk above the other. The argument did not stop until Lily scraped her chair on the flagstone floor as she walked towards the door. Unnoticed to the others in the room, a small figure still in her night dress and wrapped in a large denim jacket that reached the floor stood in the doorway silently listening to the argument unfolding. Lily lowered herself to her knees and looked into the child's face. Her eyes red and puffy, were emphasized by her pale porcelain skin. Holding out her arms, Lily spoke softly 'come here darling, come sit down.' Nymeria allowed herself to be swept up into Lily's arms and sat on her lap, overwhelmed by all the eyes upon her she looked down into her lap trying to stop her mind from remembering last night events.

BANG! People all around Nymeria stood up, their wands all pointed towards the only door to the room. At the sound, instinctively Lily tightened her grip on her and ran to the other side of the room, turning so she was in-between Nymeria and the source of the noise. The door swung open, crashing off the wall and bouncing back almost hitting the figure who had just rushed in. Panic etched across his prematurely lined face, the young man, dressed in ripped dirty grey robes searched the room frantically. 'Where is she! Nymeria!' he shouted at no one in particular. At the sound of her name, Nymeria looked up. She knew that voice. 'Remy?!' squirming, she wiggled out of Lilys arms and frantically searched the many faces staring at her until her eyes met the one she was looking for. She ran as fast as she could and jumped up into the man's arms. As soon as she was safe she felt her pretence fall and all emotions she was fighting from the previous night erupted from her as she broke down in hysterical tears.

'Shhh, I'm here now,' looking up Remus Lupin addressed the room. 'Why wasn't I sent for? I was told most my family had been murdered by Sirius sending me a rushed message!' The handsome dark haired man who was leaning against the wall shifted his feet awkwardly avoiding eye contact with anyone. The awkward silence was broken by Alastor Moody.

'Remus, it was full moon. You were in no fit state to contact.'

'Sun rise was hours ago. I should have been sent for as soon as I was back in my sane mind'

'Can we get back to sorting out what we are going to do with the girl?' Moody grunted turning his back on Remus.

'She is coming with me! I am her uncle and she has experienced enough loss. She is not losing me too!' Turning on his heels, Remus stormed from the room and towards the front door. Without looking back he apparated taking Nymeria with him.


End file.
